School of Motion—Animation Bootcamp: Under the Onion Skin

Week two is officially in the books! I’ve learned so much about animation than I ever thought possible and I feel like a newbie all over again, which is a great feeling. In just five days I’ve learned a ton about timing, spacing, weight, physics and animation philosophy. I even learned some more about frame-by-frame animation and have an even deeper appreciation for Disney’s Nine Old Men. I’m excited to explore each of these topics in more detail because these are a few of the elements, I feel, that have been missing from my work. There are times when I watch my animations—current ones, not the older stuff—and I can tell something’s off. You know that feeling right? The movements and motion in theory make sense, but it’s not entirely convincing or believable. It doesn’t mimic some aspect of reality. Well, now I know why.

The topics below were some of the biggest takeaways from this week, and areas that I’m hoping to improve in as the weeks go on in order to make my animations feel more life-like:

Timing

All animation principles are based on the laws of physics, and the time an action takes from beginning to end is no different. If you don’t have enough frames between poses your animation will seem fast, but if you have too many frames between poses your animation will feel slow. Like Goldilocks, the timing should be just right, but that perfect timing wouldn’t be complete without…

Spacing

Spacing! Timing and spacing go together like peanut butter and jelly, s’mores and campfires, tacos and Tuesdays—I could go on. The point is that timing and spacing are the two core elements of any animation. Animators are constantly juxtaposing characters, objects and environments with one another through precise choreography, i.e., through the timing and spacing of each element’s actions (you can thank Joey Korenman for this beautiful metaphor). But the thing that really helps sell the timing and spacing of an object is its…

Weight

Weight! You see the trend now right? The laws of physics are so important here. Weight is what gives animation that sense of realism. Sure, animation can take on an exaggerated and sometimes abstract form, but everything has to tie back to the real world at some point. Take Wylie Coyote for instance. How many times have we seen this guy launch himself off a ledge or drop an anvil on his foot? One too many I’m sure, but every time he finds himself in one of these situations you can really feel the impact. You can feel that anvil fall with force and you can feel Wylie hanging in the air right before he comes crashing down to the ground. He may be a silly cartoon character, but he doesn’t defy the laws of gravity.

From now on whenever I have to animate something, per Joey’s request, I’m going to ask myself, “does the animation have some weight to it?” It’s going to be key moving forward, but the realism of weight is all in the…

Details

Details! Yes, it’s the subtleties and fine tuning that really sell the impact of an animation. When you give every object in your scene a purpose and touch every frame (as Joey likes to say) animation as a medium can transcend worlds. Think about every Disney, Pixar, Blue Sky (RIP 😢) or Dreamworks animation you’ve ever seen. You know it isn’t real life, but it sure does feel like it. That’s the above principles (and many more) of animation at work tricking your eyes and captivating your heart at the same time. Sure, story, design and sound all contribute, but the convincing movements are made possible by all of the above.

That’s it for this week. Week three sounds like it’ll be an even deeper dive into the concept of spacing, so to go along with that theme, I think it’s time to call it a wrap, kick my feet up and check out the new Space Jam movie.

School of Motion—Animation Bootcamp: Orientation Week

This week I started my first ever School of Motion course with Animation Bootcamp. I’ve wanted to enroll in one of SOM’s courses for as long as I can remember, but could never find the time. It finally hit me that there will never be the perfect time though, so I took a leap of faith, and am officially an SOM student for the Summer of 2021. I’m equal parts ecstatic and nervous, but overall I’m just really pumped to be improving some animation skills.

As I started my Orientation week this week I also decided to check out their free course called Level Up, and the combination of the two (AB + LU) has been awesome so far. I know I’m only in my orientation week with Animation Bootcamp, but simply interacting with my classmates, providing each other with feedback on our evaluation assignments and getting to know our TAs over the past few days has been great. I’m so excited to learn from my peers and get to know each other better as the course progresses.

But back to Level Up. Ryan Summers, the instructor for the course, talks about how important it is to not only practice technical animation skills, but other skills like sketching and writing in order to “level up” in your career. I’ll be honest, I haven’t sketched much over the past several years, but I have been trying to keep up with this blog in an effort to improve my writing. So I’ve decided that I’m going to do a weekly recap every Friday during Animation Bootcamp for the next twelve (well, now technically eleven) weeks. It’s an extremely ambitious goal, but I like shooting for the stars.

As for this week’s recap, there’s not much to report other than that I’ve completed my first evaluation assignment, received some feedback from my TA and been advised that things are going to “pick up quick.” Guess that’s a hint that it’s time to go log off for the week and go enjoy some time away from my computer because I have a funny feeling I’ll be at the computer A LOT next week ;)

Happy weekend everybody!

Book Review: That Will Never Work by Marc Randolph

We may be three months into 2021, but I already have a good feeling about some of the books in queue for this year. Winter is officially wrapping up in a few days in the Garden State, but my leisure time throughout the season has largely consisted of indoor activities including playing piano and absorbing my mind in books. I’ve already got a couple of new reads under my belt for the year, and although it’s only March, That Will Never Work is shaping up to be a contender for this year’s Top 5 list.

That Will Never Work is the startup story of Netflix and how the idea for online movie rentals was born between former CEO Marc Randolph and current CEO Reed Hastings. Randolph’s (the author’s) care-free tone was authentic and relatable throughout, and it felt as though I was sitting with him enjoying a cup of coffee as he recounted his time at Netflix with me. He has a true gift for storytelling and conveyed several themes over the course of three hundred pages, but I found the ones below to be the most memorable.

The Individual: Freedom and Responsibility

Marc begins and ends his story by empowering the individual. There are several times where Marc talks about how important trust is when talking about individuals in relation to company culture, and like Tony Hsieh, Marc too believes that employee centric culture is what nurtures teams into successful companies.

“People want to be treated like adults. They want to have a mission they believe in, a problem to solve, and space to solve it. They want to be surrounded by other adults whose abilities they respect.”

The Netflix culture was born during the early days of its founding. Marc and Reed knew that the company would thrive if they focused on the individuals helping to build the company just as much as the customers they were serving. And according to Marc this culture is based on a simple formula; “handpick a dozen brilliant, creative people, give them a set of delicious problems to solve, then give them the space to solve them.” This is what Netflix was built on and it’s what continues to drive the company today.

Date Night

As we continue to overcome COVID-19, the balance of work and play while working from home couldn’t be more important. It’s a balance that we value very much in our house, therefore, Marc’s theme of date night resonated with me a lot.

“On Tuesdays, no matter what, I left the office promptly at 5:00 and spent the evening with my wife…I needed that time with Lorraine — just the two of us, no kids, no domestic duties. I needed to recharge, to be with my best friend for a few hours and not think about anything else.”

We live in an era of high productivity, and with technology constantly evolving, it’s becoming easier and easier for us to work more efficiently than ever. This is something definitely worth celebrating, but we should also recognize how easy it is to overwork ourselves with these capabilities too. Marc commented that he felt people are most productive when they’re happy, which includes having a healthy and fulfilling life outside of work, and I couldn’t agree more. Whether the pressure to grind is internal or external, taking a moment to step away from our work and spend time with those we love doing the things we love should be equally as important and celebrated.

On Entrepreneurship

If entrepreneurship could be boiled down to one sentence, it would be this one from That Will Never Work:

“You have to love the problem, not the solution”

I’ve definitely learned over the years that work (and life) is not formulaic. Just because we work hard and do all the right things doesn’t mean we’re guaranteed (excellent) results every time. And just because certain processes have produced certain results in the past doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll produce the same results in the future. That’s why I believe curiosity is king. And when you combine curiosity with results-driven thinking (plus enjoying all that comes with it in the process) you find yourself in a space where entrepreneurship (or business or problem-solving; whatever you want to call it) truly thrives.

There were several other themes that I would love to share from That Will Never Work, but I don’t want to give away too many spoilers. The great thing about That Will Never Work is that it’s a book for anyone and everyone. It’s incredibly relatable and I’d highly recommend it to anyone looking for something new to read.

2020: A Year in Books

I’m not the first, and certainly not the last, to make this observation, but 2020 was a strange year (to put it lightly). Everything about it was unpredictable. It surprised me in so many ways and it’ll be a year I’ll never forget. History books won’t forget it either.

Speaking of books, this year was the first year that I felt like I actually accomplished some of my reading and writing goals. These weren’t goals or resolutions I set out to achieve at the beginning of the year, but instead were some that I acquired over the past several months. I wasn’t sure how my work load would be impacted given all that was going on with COVID-19 so I decided to use my new found time to achieve one simple goal: to learn. And no topic was off limits. I naturally gravitated towards reading books, writing in my blog and creating motion design pieces in order to broaden my knowledge of anything and everything, and surprisingly enough, I feel like I met this goal and then some.

Every year I try to do some amount of reading just for fun and to learn a little more about the business of creativity. With this year’s goal to simply learn, my traditional approach to reading turned into a quest to challenge my mind. The genres I explored ranged from business, branding, psychology, science, cinematography, storytelling and fictional/non-fictional stories. And every single book was enticing and memorable, adding value in their own unique way. Below is what I was able to read over the past twelve months (not pictured is the audio version of In The Country We Love by Diane Guerrero). Of the books pictured below there were five that I consider to be my Top 5 of 2020 that stood out the most:

1. Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh

   It saddens me that as I’m writing this Tony is no longer with us. I read Delivering Happiness in the spring and as soon as I finished it I made it a personal goal of mine to meet him one day. Although I sadly won’t get that opportunity now, he has become a huge influence on my career and his book serves as my professional guiding compass. Delivering Happiness was by far my favorite book of the year. You can read my review of it here.

2. Bad Blood by John Carreyrou

   I had never heard of Elizabeth Holmes or the Theranos scandal until I read this book and, wow, talk about a thriller! This book went everywhere with me and I couldn’t put it down. It also inspired some of the creative in my client and personal work this year too. Carreyrou’s immersive writing style made me feel like I was watching the events unfold right before my eyes and it was truly captivating.

3. The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber

   The E-Myth was one of the first books I read this year and if there was any book that taught me to learn this was it. From the very first pages Gerber states that “you have to become a student of the art and science of business” in order to run a successful business, and this book teaches just that. But there’s one important distinction between The E-Myth and other entrepreneurial books out there. This one forces you to understand your business idea by recognizing the connection between the idea and the person behind it. It is this special relationship where businesses truly flourish. How do you get to that understanding? Well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out. Anyone who wants to start a business, has just started a business or is looking for guidance in their growing business should give this book a read.

4. The Go-Giver by Bob Burg & John David Mann

   This was a short yet timeless read. If I could paraphrase this book it would be a variation on Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan titled “Just Do Good.” And with the current state of affairs, doing good has never been more appropriate than ever. We’ve been bombarded with information regarding COVID-19 this year, and it’s impacted people in more ways than one. I hope we continue to overcome the adversities of COVID-19 through the lessons that this book teaches. I hope we continue to hear more stories about community, hope and resilience instead of the negativity and finger-pointing that so often makes its way to the mainstream media. If you’re looking for a heart warming parable, this is your book. You can also read a formal review of it here.

5. The One Thing by Gary Keller

   The One Thing had so many productivity tips it would be impossible to list them all here. Plus, I wouldn’t want to do that because it would give the whole book away! The link between one’s productivity and success is only a portion of what puts one on the path to extreme measures of success. Timing, consistency, dedication and resilience with respect to productivity are just a few attributes that put people on that path. If you want to discover your true potential then you’ll have to give this book a read because it’s amazing what a person can do when they put their dreams and passion to work. You can read a more in depth review of the book here as well.

It’s been a great year of reads and I’m already looking forward to the titles I have lined up for next year. Are there any books that you read this year that you felt were noteworthy? Share your recommendations below! I’m always looking for new books to add to my wish list.

Interested in what I’m currently reading or what’s on deck too? Feel free to follow me on Goodreads.

Book Review: The Go-Giver by Bob Burg & John Mann

There’s a debate in our house as to how The Go-Giver ended up on our book shelf. My husband swears I got it from a previous employer (do any of my former Blazer’s remember being gifted this book?) but I’m almost certain his company gave it to him instead. Regardless, I’m happy someone gifted it to us because it may be the single best story ever written. It’s impossible to not give too much away without getting into the details of the story, but I’m going to try…

The Go-Giver is a story about a business man named Joe who is struggling to meet his quarterly earnings. He believes that if he doesn’t meet them he’s a failure and might even lose his job. To Joe success is very monetary. He “chases the cash” as the book states. He knows meeting this business benchmark is important, but what he doesn’t realize is that on his pursuit to achieve his quarterly goals, his perception of success completely changes.

Joe’s journey takes place over the course of a week as he sets out to meet a man named Pindar to learn his business secrets. When Joe befriends Pindar he’s introduced to The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success: The Law of Value, The Law of Compensation, The Law of Influence, The Law of Authenticity and The Law of Receptivity. The two men meet every day to discuss each new law, and at the end of every meeting Joe is required to do some homework and apply the newly-learned law to his life. As the week goes on Joe slowly makes a transformation. He finds that he’s putting others ahead of himself and building meaningful relationships with Pindar’s many acquaintances. As he forms new relationships with Pindar’s friends he deepens his connection with his current coworkers and family too. And little actions like grabbing some coffees for the office, that used to seem trivial, start to feel meaningful to him. By simply being kind, genuine and selfless, Joe catapults himself into a state of being that he’s never experienced before; self-fulfillment.

The moral of the story? Authentically do good, act selflessly, bring value to those around you and you will be rewarded tenfold. It’s as simple as that. Do all those things and you will live a successful and fulfilling life. Well, that’s what Pindar believes, but I tend to agree ;)

Make no mistake, The Go-Giver is not a book for the business-minded only. It’s a heartfelt story for everyone and anyone. It’s themes are applicable to everyday life and I encourage everyone who’s looking for a sweet, short story about what it means to do good and give back to give this book a read.

“...people will do business with and refer business to those people they know, like and trust.”

— Pindar; The Go-Giver